Record Season for Round-the-World Sailing: The Famous Project and Sodebo Rewrite the Books
It has been a remarkable season for round-the-world sailing, and the records that have fallen deserve more attention than they have received in the mainstream press. Two campaigns in particular have redefined what we thought possible on a crewed circumnavigation under sail.
The Famous Project: 57 Days, All Women, No Stops
On January 26, the crew of The Famous Project crossed the finish line after 57 days, 22 hours, and 20 minutes at sea, becoming the first all-female team to complete a non-stop circumnavigation aboard a maxi multihull. That alone would make it historic. But the manner of the voyage—through the Southern Ocean in mid-summer, averaging speeds that would have been competitive in mixed crews a decade ago—signals something bigger.
The crew reported getting accustomed to helming at 40 knots, a casual detail that belies the skill and composure required to drive a large multihull at those speeds in open ocean swells. Anyone who has done even a fraction of that pace offshore knows how demanding sustained high-speed sailing is on both body and mind. Sleep is fragmented, the loads on the rig are enormous, and the margin for error at those velocities is razor-thin.
What makes this achievement resonate in the bluewater community is not just the gender milestone—it is the seamanship. Routing through the Southern Ocean's weather systems, managing sail changes in big seas, and keeping a multihull intact through thousands of miles of the most punishing ocean on the planet requires the kind of deep competence that only comes from years of preparation.
Sodebo Ultim 3: A New Jules Verne Benchmark
Meanwhile, the maxi trimaran Sodebo Ultim 3 shattered the Jules Verne Trophy record with a time of 40 days, 10 hours, 45 minutes, and 50 seconds—beating the previous mark by nearly 13 hours. To put that in perspective, the crew averaged over 650 nautical miles per day for the entire circumnavigation. That is an average speed of roughly 27 knots, sustained across every ocean, every weather system, and every sleep-deprived watch for nearly six weeks.
The Jules Verne has always been the ultimate test of crewed offshore sailing. Unlike a race with a fixed start date, the Jules Verne allows teams to choose their own departure window, which means the routing and weather strategy are entirely on the skipper. Getting it right requires a combination of patience, nerve, and a shore team with world-class meteorological support.
The World ARC Fleet Sets Sail
On the cruising side of the spectrum, the World ARC 2026-27 fleet departed Saint Lucia earlier this year to begin a 15-month circumnavigation. The fleet reflects the diversity of the modern cruising community: eight family crews and seven doublehanded teams among them, sailing production boats and custom builds alike.
The World ARC route takes the fleet through the Panama Canal, across the Pacific to the Galapagos and French Polynesia, onward to Australia and Indonesia, across the Indian Ocean, around the Cape of Good Hope, and back across the Atlantic. It is, by any measure, a proper circumnavigation—and a reminder that you do not need a 100-foot trimaran to sail around the world. You need a sound boat, good preparation, and the willingness to commit.
What It Means for the Rest of Us
Whether your own bluewater ambitions run to a weekend coastal passage or a full circumnavigation, these voyages carry lessons worth absorbing. The Famous Project demonstrated that meticulous crew training and team cohesion matter more than individual heroics. Sodebo showed that the gap between weather modeling and on-the-water execution continues to narrow as technology improves. And the World ARC fleet proves, again, that ordinary sailors in well-prepared boats can take on extraordinary voyages.
The common thread is preparation. None of these crews stumbled into their achievements. They planned, they trained, and they executed. That is the essence of good seamanship, whether you are racing a trimaran at 40 knots or anchoring your family cruiser in a new harbor for the first time.
It has been a season to remember. Pay attention—this caliber of ocean sailing does not come along every year.